1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a composition for inducing the differentiation of neural stem cells into dopaminergic neurons. More specifically, the present invention relates to a composition capable of specifically inducing the differentiation of neural stem cells into dopaminergic neurons without apoptosis while preventing differentiation into other brain cells, and a method for inducing the differentiation of neural stem cells into dopaminergic neurons by using the composition.
2. Description of the Related Art
Parkinson's disease is the most common neurodegenerative disease but senile dementia and the majority of patients with the disease are elderly. With increasing aging population, the number of patients with Parkinson's disease increases exponentially. Thus, much attention is focused on developing therapies for stopping the progress of Parkinson's disease or recovering damaged brain tissues.
Although the exact cause of Parkinson's disease is not yet established, it is known that Parkinson's disease is caused by destruction of dopamine-secreting dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra of the brain. The lack of dopamine leads to damage to the motor pathways of the brain, causing various symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
Research has been conducted on the treatment of Parkinson's disease in various fields. Some potential approaches to the treatment of Parkinson's disease have been proposed, for example, drug therapies using several mimetics and artificial neuron stimulation methods by surgery, such as deep-brain stimulation. However, drug therapies have side effects caused by short-term chronic administration, making it difficult to treat Parkinson's disease. Surgical therapies impose heavy physical and economic burdens on patients and their therapeutic effects other than temporary alleviation of symptoms are difficult to expect. Thus, there is an absolute need for alternative therapies for Parkinson's disease.
Gene therapy and cell transplantation are known as therapeutic methods that can be used to replace lost neurons in neurodegenerative diseases. Once damaged, brain nerve tissues have very limited capacity of self-regeneration. For this reason, there are currently no effective therapies for these diseases.